Education

Oprah bestowed honor of addressing this year’s graduates.

About a half-century ago, Secretary of State George C. Marshall used his commencement speech at Harvard to announce what came to be known as the “Marshall Plan.” Of course, not every commencement address can be a major policy pronouncement by a leading statesman, but this year’s decision to give that coveted platform to Oprah Winfrey represents a new low for my alma mater.

When President Obama unveiled his Race to the Top initiative in 2009, the idea was to award $4.35 billion in federal grant money to states to replicate policies that boosted student achievement. That quickly changed and the federal money was instead used to persuade states to adopt administration-backed nationalized K-12 English and math standards and tests. By last year, most states had adopted the standards, known as Common Core, and it seemed a foregone conclusion that the United States would join countries like France in having a uniform curriculum.

A Louisiana high school is in "chaos" after 57 teachers skipped school to protest the governor in Baton Rouge. The problem is that there were not enough substitute teachers to replace those who decided to protest the Republican governor, Bobby Jindal.

"Operations at Lafayette High School were thrown into 'chaos' on Wednesday after 57 teachers were absent, said Lafayette Parish Superintendent Pat Cooper," reports theadvertiser.com.

"Cooper said the majority of those teachers attended a rally of educators at the state capitol in Baton Rouge.

There may actually be some movement in the long struggle to change and improve the way children are educated in this country. The forces of the status quo – especially the teachers' unions – have fiercely resisted just about every reform and they have considerable power.

In a season when we all become bracketologists, here is an interesting variation that uses the form to conduct a playoff in which the school that costs more to attend wins and moves on to the next round against another institution of absurdly high priced learning. Another elimination and the price, again, goes up. Parents of college-aged children will quickly get it.

First Lady Michelle Obama spoke today in Chicago about her new physical education initiative for kids. She called her new program "our patriotic obligation to this country" and "our moral obligation."

"I am thrilled to be here today as we launch Let’s Move Active Schools –- this unprecedented effort to bring physical education back to America’s schools," she began. She then explained that enough kids get enough exercise--and that she aims to change that.

David Plouffe, a former advisor to President Barack Obama, tells a student newspaper at the University of Chicago that one need not be college educated to do politics. Plouffe states, though, that he thinks "everybody should have a college degree."

The students ask, "Do you think it’s necessary to have a college degree to get into politics?"

"We have hosted youth workshops on everything from modern dance to classical music to spoken word poetry."

At an event at the White House for the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program awards program, First Lady Michelle Obama praised arts in children's education by saying, "if it’s good enough for our kids, it’s good enough for all of our kids."

The Scrapbook notes, with some amusement, that George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars franchise, sold his lucrative Lucasfilm enterprise last week to the Disney Company, which announced in turn that it intends to revive and extend the Star Wars saga. We leave it to the experts to judge whether this cinematic/economic event is a cultural landmark, or a sign that the Disney empire (like Lucasfilm) has finally run out of fresh ideas.